The Detroit Lions could lose two of their coordinators to head-coaching jobs this winter, but the third has no plans of going anywhere.

Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp reiterated Wednesday that he has no interest in becoming a head coach, now or down the road.

“The thing that I love the most is working with the players,” Fipp said. “And I love the meeting room. It’s my favorite place in the building is the meeting room when it’s full of players. I get to coach every player on the team. I get to be involved with a lot of different aspects of the game. Offensive plays, defensive plays, offensive players, defensive players, and I really can’t imagine not having that, to be honest with you. It’s my passion.”

Fipp said he wanted to be head coach early in his coaching days, but changed his mind after “watching the head coach and all of the stuff that they have to deal with.”

Though he has no interest in pursuing head-coaching positions – Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn interviewed for multiple jobs during the team’s bye last week – Fipp said plenty of NFL special teams coordinators have the traits to be successful head coaches but are often overlooked for the job.

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“The bottom line is the guys who do the best at the job in my opinion are dynamic leaders,” Fipp said. “They’re super smart in all phases, they know how to relate to a lot of different people and please a lot of different people, they know how to motivate a lot of different people.

“It really comes down to less about the guy can call this play or that play, he’s good on this side of the ball or that side of the ball. I mean, these guys are dynamic leaders who know how to handle an NFL locker room, and so I think ultimately, it doesn’t matter where they come from. People need to just look for the best leaders possible and the problem is that they look for the same formula as the last team that did a good job and they don’t realize that (just because someone fits that formula doesn’t mean he has) the things that make that guy successful.”

David Montgomery’s role

David Montgomery will return to the lineup Saturday after a three-game absence due to a sprained MCL, but in what role is still “to be determined,” Johnson said.

Montgomery started the Lions’ first 14 games at running back and split carries with Jahmyr Gibbs in the team’s time-share backfield. He averaged 13.2 carries and 55.4 yards rushing per game before his injury, while Gibbs averaged 13.3 rushes and 74.8 yards in those same contests.

In three games without Montgomery, Gibbs has averaged 21.3 carries and 121.7 rushing yards.

“Gibbs has certainly had a hot hand as of late and I expect David to come in and pick up where he left off,” Johnson said. “If the last two days are any indication, he’s of the right mindset right now, so we’ll see what it looks like today on the field and tomorrow as well, and we’ll finalize our plan after that.”

Scary Terry

Terry McLaurin had his fifth straight 1,000-yard receiving season for the Commanders and set a career-high with 13 touchdowns this year.

Glenn said Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels “had a lot to do with” McLaurin’s touchdown production, but praised the sixth-year receiver as “one of the top receivers in this league.”

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“He’s highly, highly competitive,” Glenn said. “He does a really good job on 50-50 balls, which you wouldn’t think that he would because of his stature (at 6 feet), but he does a really good job of that. He’s always been a good player. We went against this player several times, but that’s the one thing that really stands out, is his competitive nature. He kind of reminds me of how (Amon-Ra St. Brown) goes about, because he will block, he’ll go across the middle, he’ll take hits, he’ll get back up, get back to the huddle, so he’s a gamer.

“He’s a gamer, so it doesn’t surprise me, the success he’s having.”

Best of the best

Saturday’s game pits the NFL’s two best special teams units, at least according to the metrics Fipp uses to chart special teams play.

“They’re No. 1, we’re two,” Fipp said.

Fipp said he weighs how a team plays in both kick and punt coverage and return, plus field goal and field goal block in his metrics. He also considers special teams takeaways and giveaways on field position.

The Commanders rank in the top 10 in kick- and punt-return average and are second in punt-return average allowed, but have allowed two kick-return touchdowns this season. While most NFL teams have played for touchbacks on kickoffs, the Commanders have allowed 73 returns, most in the NFL and more than triple what the Lions have allowed (24) this season.